民事诉讼法 1991 英文版.doc

民事诉讼法 Civil Procedure Law of the Peoples Republic of China/englishnpc/Law/2007-12/12/content_1383880.htm(Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Seventh National Peoples Congress and promulgated by Order No. 44 of the President of the Peoples Republic of China on April 9, 1991)ContentsPart One General ProvisionsChapter I The Aim, Scope of Application and Basic PrinciplesChapter II JurisdictionSection 1 Jurisdiction by Forum LevelSection 2 Territorial JurisdictionSection 3 Transfer and Designation of JurisdictionChapter III Trial OrganizationChapter IV WithdrawalChapter V Participants in ProceedingsSection 1 PartiesSection 2 Agents ad LiterChapter VI EvidenceChapter VII Time Periods and ServiceSection 1 Time PeriodsSection 2 ServiceChapter VIII ConciliationChapter IX Property Preservation and Advance ExecutionChapter X Compulsory Measures Against Obstruction of Civil ProceedingsChapter XI Litigation CostsPart Two Trial ProcedureChapter XII Ordinary Procedure of First InstanceSection 1 Bringing a Lawsuit and Entertaining a CaseSection 2 Preparations for TrialSection 3 Trial in CourtSection 4 Suspension and Termination of LitigationSection 5 Judgment and OrderChapter XIII Summary ProcedureChapter XIV Procedure of Second InstanceChapter XV Special ProcedureSection 1 General ProvisionsSection 2 Cases Concerning the Qualification of VotersSection 3 Cases Concerning the Proclamation of a Person as Missing or DeadSection 4 Cases Concerning the Determination of Legal Incapacity or Restricted Legal Capacity of CitizensSection 5 Cases Concerning the Determination of a Property as OwnerlessChapter XVI Procedure for Trial SupervisionChapter XVII Summary Procedure for Hastening Recovery of a DebtChapter XVIII Procedure for Publicizing Public Notice for Assertion of ClaimsChapter XIX Bankruptcy and Debt Repayment Proceedings for Legal Person EnterprisesPart Three Procedure of ExecutionChapter XX General StipulationsChapter XXI Application for Execution and ReferralChapter XXII Execution MeasuresChapter XXIII Suspension and Termination of ExecutionPart Four Special Provisions for Civil Proceedings of Cases Involving Foreign ElementChapter XXIV General PrinciplesChapter XXV JurisdictionChapter XXVI Service and Time PeriodsChapter XXVII Property PreservationChapter XXVIII ArbitrationChapter XXIX Judicial AssistancePart One General ProvisionsChapter I The Aim, Scope of Application and Basic PrinciplesArticle 1 The Civil Procedure Law of the Peoples Republic of China is formulated on the basis of the Constitution and in the light of the experience and actual conditions of our country in the trial of civil cases.Article 2 The Civil Procedure Law of the Peoples Republic of China aims to protect the exercise of the litigation rights of the parties and ensure the ascertaining of facts by the peoples courts, distinguish right from wrong, apply the law correctly, try civil cases promptly, affirm civil rights and obligations, impose sanctions for civil wrongs, protect the lawful rights and interests of the parties, educate citizens to voluntarily abide by the law, maintain the social and economic order, and guarantee the smooth progress of the socialist construction.Article 3 In dealing with civil litigation arising from disputes on property and personal relations between citizens, legal persons or other organizations and between the three of them, the peoples courts shall apply the provisions of this Law.Article 4 Whoever engages in civil litigation within the territory of the Peoples Republic of China must abide by this Law.Article 5 Aliens, stateless persons, foreign enterprises and organizations that bring suits or enter appearance in the peoples courts shall have the same litigation rights and obligations as citizens, legal persons and other organizations of the Peoples Republic of China.If the courts of a foreign country impose restrictions on the civil litigation rights of the citizens, legal persons and other organizations of the Peoples Republic of China, the peoples courts of the Peoples Republic of China shall follow the principle of reciprocity regarding the civil litigation rights of the citizens, enterprises and organizations of that foreign country.Article 6 The peoples courts shall exercise judicial powers with respect to civil cases.The peoples courts shall try civil cases independently in accordance with the law, and shall be subject to no interference by any administrative organ, public organization or individual.Article 7 In trying civil cases, the peoples courts must base themselves on facts and take the law as the criterion.Article 8 The parties in civil litigation shall have equal litigation rights. The peoples courts shall, in conducting the trials, safeguard their rights, facilitate their exercising the rights, and apply the law equally to them.Article 9 In trying civil cases, the peoples courts shall conduct conciliation for the parties on a voluntary and lawful basis; if conciliation fails, judgments shall be rendered without delay.Article 10 In trying civil cases, the peoples courts shall, according to the provisions of the law, follow the systems of panel hearing, withdrawal, public trial and the court of second instance being that of last instance.Article 11 Citizens of all nationalities shall have the right to use their native spoken and written languages in civil proceedings.Where minority nationalities live in aggregation in a community or where several nationalities live together in one area, the peoples courts shall conduct hearings and issue legal documents in the spoken and written languages commonly used by the local nationalities.The peoples courts shall provide translations for any participant in the proceedings who is not familiar with the spoken or written languages commonly used by the local nationalities.Article 12 Parties to civil actions are entitled in the trials by the peoples courts to argue for themselves.Article 13 The parties are free to deal with their own civil rights and litigation rights the way they prefer within the scope provided by the law.Article 14 The peoples procuratorates shall have the right to exercise legal supervision over civil proceedings.Article 15 Where an act has infringed upon the civil rights and interests of the State, a collective organization or an individual, any State organ, public organization, enterprise or institution may support the injured unit or individual to bring an action in a peoples court.Article 16 The peoples conciliation committees shall be mass organizations to conduct conciliation of civil disputes under the guidance of the grass-roots level peoples governments and the basic level peoples courts.The peoples conciliation committee shall conduct conciliation for the parties according to the Law and on a voluntary basis. The parties concerned shall carry out the settlement agreement reached through conciliation; those who decline conciliation or those for whom conciliation has failed or those who have backed out of the settlement agreement may institute legal proceedings in a peoples court.If a peoples conciliation committee, in conducting conciliation of civil disputes, acts contrary to the law, rectification shall be made by the peoples courtArticle 17 The peoples congresses of the national autonomous regions may formulate, in accordance with the Constitution and the principles of this Law, and in conjunction with the specific circumstances of the local nationalities, adaptive and supplementary provisions. Such provisions made by an autonomous region shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress for approval; those made by an autonomous prefecture or autonomous county shall be submitted to the standing committee of the peoples congress of the relevant province or autonomous region for approval and to the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress for the record.Chapter II JurisdictionSection 1 Jurisdiction by Forum LevelArticle 18 The basic peoples courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over civil cases, unless otherwise provided in this Law.Article 19 The intermediate peoples courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over the following civil cases:(1) major cases involving foreign element;(2) cases that have major impact on the area under their jurisdiction; and(3) cases as determined by the Supreme Peoples Court to be under the jurisdiction of the intermediate peoples courts.Article 20 The high peoples courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over civil cases that have major impact on the areas under their jurisdiction.Article 21 The Supreme Peoples Court shall have jurisdiction as the court of first instance over the following civil cases:(1) cases that have major impact on the whole country; and(2) cases that the Supreme Peoples Court deems it should try.Section 2 Territorial JurisdictionArticle 22 A civil lawsuit brought against a citizen shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the defendant has his domicile; if the place of the defendants domicile is different from that of his habitual residence, the lawsuit shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place of his habitual residence.A civil lawsuit brought against a legal person or any other organization shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the defendant has his domicile.Where the domiciles or habitual residences of several defendants in the same lawsuit are in the areas under the jurisdiction of two or more peoples courts, all of those peoples courts shall have jurisdiction over the lawsuit.Article 23 The civil lawsuits described below shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the plaintiff has his domicile; if the place of the plaintiffs domicile is different from that of his habitual residence, the lawsuit shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place of the plaintiffs habitual residence:(1) those concerning personal status brought against persons not residing within the territory of the Peoples Republic of China;(2) those concerning the personal status of persons whose whereabouts are unknown or who have been declared as missing.(3) those brought against persons who are undergoing rehabilitation through labour; and(4) those brought against persons who are in imprisonment.Article 24 A lawsuit brought on a contract dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the defendant has his domicile or where the contract is performed.Article 25 The parties to a contract may agree to choose in their written contract the peoples court of the place where the defendant has his domicile, where the contract is performed, where the contract is signed, where the plaintiff has his domicile or where the object of the action is located to exercise jurisdiction over the case, provided that the provisions of this Law regarding jurisdiction by forum level and exclusive jurisdiction are not violated.Article 26 A lawsuit brought on an insurance contract dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the defendant has his domicile or where the insured object is located.Article 27 A lawsuit brought on a bill dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the bill is to be paid or where the defendant has his domicile.Article 28 A lawsuit arising from a dispute over a railway, road, water, or air transport contract or over a combined transport contract shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place of dispatch or the place of destination or where the defendant has his domicile.Article 29 A lawsuit brought on a tortious act shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the tort is committed or where the defendant has his domicile.Article 30 A lawsuit brought on claims for damages caused by a railway, road, water transport or air accident shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the accident occurred or where the vehicle or ship first arrived after the accident or where the aircraft first landed after the accident, or where the defendant has his domicile.Article 31 A lawsuit brought on claims for damages caused by a collision at sea or by any other maritime accident shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the collision occurred or where the ship in collision first docked after the accident or where the ship at fault was detained, or where the defendant has his domicile.Article 32 A lawsuit instituted for expenses of maritime salvage shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the salvage took place or where the salvaged ship first docked after the disaster.Article 33 A lawsuit brought for general average shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the ship first docked or where the adjustment of general average was conducted or where the voyage ended.Article 34 The following cases shall be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the peoples courts herein specified:(1) a lawsuit brought on a dispute over real estate shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the estate is located;(2) a lawsuit brought on a dispute over harbour operations shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the harbour is located; and(3) a lawsuit brought on a dispute over succession shall be under the jurisdiction of the peoples court of the place where the decedent had his domicile upon his death, or where the principal part of his estate is located.Article 35 When two or more peoples courts have jurisdiction over a lawsuit, the plaintiff may bring his lawsuit in one of these peoples courts; if the plaintiff brings the lawsuit in two or more peoples courts that have jurisdiction over the lawsuit, the peoples court in which the case was first entertained shall have jurisdiction.Section 3 Transfer and Designation of JurisdictionArticle 36 If a peoples court finds that a case it has entertained is not under its jurisdiction, it shall refer the case to the peoples court that has jurisdiction over the case. The peoples court to which a case has been referred shall entertain the case, and if it considers that, according to the relevant regulations, the case referred to it is not under its jurisdiction, it shall report to a superior peoples court for the designation of jurisdiction and shall not independently refer the case again to another peoples court.Article 37 If a peoples court which has jurisdiction over a case is unable to exercise the jurisdiction for special reasons, a superior peoples court shall designate another court to exercise jurisdiction.In the event of a jurisdictional dispute between two or more peoples courts, it shall be resolved by the disputing parties through consultation; if the dispute cannot be so resolved, it shall be reported to their common superior peoples court for the designation of jurisdiction.Article 38 If a party to an action objects to the jurisdiction of a peoples court after the court has entertained the case, the party must raise the objection within the period prescribed for the submission of defence. The peoples court shall examine the objection. If the objection is established, the peoples court shall order the case to be transferred to the peoples court that has jurisdiction over it; if not, the peoples court shall reject it.Article 39 The peoples courts at higher levels shall have the power to try civil cases over which the peoples courts at lower levels have jurisdiction as courts of first instance; they may also transfer civil cases over which they themselves have jurisdiction as courts of first instance to peoples courts at lower levels for trial.If a peoples court at a lower level that has jurisdiction over a civil case as court of first instance deems it necessary to have the case to be tried by a peoples court at a higher level, it may submit it to and request the peoples court at a higher level to try the case.Chapter III Trial OrganizationArticle 40 The peoples court of first instance shall try civil cases by a collegial panel composed of both judges and judicial assessors or of judges alone. The collegial panel must have an odd number of members.Civil cases in which summary procedure is followed shall be tried by a single judge alone.When performing their duties, the judicial assessors shall have equal rights and obligations as the judges.Article 41 The peoples court of second instance shall try civil cases by a collegial panel of judges. The collegial panel must have an odd number of members.For the retrial of a remanded case, the peoples court of first instance shall form a new collegial panel in accordance with the procedure of first instance.If a case for retrial was originally tried at first instance, a new collegial panel shall be formed according to the procedure of first instance; if the case was originally tried at second instance or was brought by a peoples court at a higher level to it for trial, a new collegial panel shall be formed according to the procedure of second instance.Article 42 The president of the court or the chief judge of a division of the court shall designate a judge to serve as the presiding judge of the collegial panel; if the president or the chief judge participates in the trial, he himself shall serve as the presiding judge.Article 43 When deliberating a case, a collegial panel shall observe the rule of majority.